Overdraft help

nomadical

Hi

My interest free student overdraft is coming to an end in November, at which point Halifax will charge me £1 for every day I'm overdrawn.

Since being in employment after graduating I have been trying so hard to minimise my negative balance, but no matter how much I am overdrawn, I will still be charged £1 a day.

I fully accept this, I knew it was coming but does anybody know of any accounts that have lower rates that I could switch my debt over to? I think it will be a bit longer than 3 months before I'm able to pay it off fully.

Thanks

opinions4u

How much do you owe?

Get it under £300 and switch it to an URCA. £15 fee in return for some insurance sand no overdraft fee.

Get a credit card. Spend day to day using it for purchases. Pay the minimum balance out of wage and divert the rest of your wage to paying down the overdraft.

Or simply do without. An Autumn of austerity where you live like a hermit and eat beans on toast a lot might clear the debt.

nomadical

I currently owe about 800, so I reckon I could get it down to below 300 by then. The only reason it's not lower by now is because I've just bought a car (I know it seems silly, but it was a very cheap one and is already benefiting in that I can now apply for many more jobs). So the URCA seems like a great option, thanks

I'm already living like a hermit but will cut down on as much as I can to try and get out of it, was just looking for a plan b in case all else fails!

MoneySaverLog

Get a zero percent credit card
Put all new spending on the credit card
What you've spent on the credit card use to pay off the OD.
Pay the minimum on the credit card
When the OD is paid off then put that money towards paying the credit card off hopefully you can do all that in the interest free period on the card.

nomadical

MoneySaverLog wrote: »

Get a zero percent credit card
Put all new spending on the credit card
What you've spent on the credit card use to pay off the OD.
Pay the minimum on the credit card
When the OD is paid off then put that money towards paying the credit card off hopefully you can do all that in the interest free period on the card.

Hi
I only just got a credit card in the last few months, and as it was my first it wasn't a very good one! Only 3 months interest free, high interest etc. So I'm only using it for things I know I can pay off straight away (to build my credit rating). Hopefully by November my credit rating will be good enough to apply for a better one with a longer interest free period! Thanks very much for the advice

pinkdalek

Speak to them, maybe consider getting their clarity credit card (if you're eligible). Either use that to pay for things and focus on paying off the overdraft or if your credit limit covers it, withdraw cash and clear the overdraft. The interest rate on the credit card may work out cheaper than being charged £1 per day. There is no handling fee for drawing cash on their clarity card, you are just charged interest on day 1 of drawing the cash.

You could potentially be on 12.9% APR on £800, interest reducing each month, as opposed to a flat £30 monthly overdraft fee.